RINGGOLD, Ga. - There were more than a few fans in attendance at Wednesday's GHSA Class AAAA baseball quarterfinal doubleheader at Heritage who believed the best-of-three series was destined to go the distance.
Even after Heritage star Cole Wilcox shut West Laurens out 6-0 in game one, the visitors knew they had an ace in the hole. The strategy to start senior right-hander Nolan Daniel in game two appeared to be the right call after the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder shut the Generals out over the first five innings.
Heritage, though, tied the score with a run in the sixth and found a way to outlast Daniel, who was taken out with two outs in the ninth inning after reaching the pitch count limit. An inning later the Generals used small ball and a trio of massive mistakes by the Raiders to score five runs and win 6-1 to complete the sweep.
Heritage (29-6) will travel to Cartersville for a doubleheader Tuesday to start their best-of-three semifinal series. The Purple Hurricanes swept Spalding in the quarterfinals, 2-0 and 11-1.
The Generals' short trip south comes after surviving a stiff challenge for much of game two Wednesday.
"They have been throwing their best guy in game two, so we knew we had to deal with that and, man, you have to tip your hat off to him," Heritage coach Eric Beagles said of Daniel. "He shut us down, and that hasn't happened much this year. I was proud of the guys for battling and making things happen."
The Generals went on top in game one with a pair of runs in the first inning, with Wilcox driving home one on a sacrifice fly and Brody Campbell bringing in the second with a two-out single. They added four more in the fifth, including RBI singles from Luke Grant and Wilcox, who would not need the extra insurance.
The right-hander had four one-two-three innings and faced just one tough spot after allowing hits to E.J. Holmes and Daniel to start the fourth. Wilcox, however, struck out the next three hitters and allowed only a sixth-inning single in completing the four-hit shutout.
"I felt good on the mound," said Wilcox, who struck out seven and did not walk a batter. "I hope to continue it next week against Cartersville because it will be a challenge for us."
While Daniel was the headliner in game two, Heritage starter Tripp Church nearly stole the spotlight. After a rare rough outing last week in the second round, Church worked through several spots to keep the Generals close. The only run scored against him was unearned after the usually strong Heritage defense committed a pair of errors in the fourth inning.
The tying rally in the sixth inning started on an infield error by West Laurens (23-11). Daniel, though, got the next two outs before walking Johnathan Hickman. Wilcox then stroked a 2-1 pitch up the middle to score Lance Dockery.
Church was pulled after six innings, with senior Justin Morris coming on and matching Daniel pitch for pitch over the next three innings before the Generals blew it open in the 10th.
Blake Bryan and Nolan Letzgus started the big inning with back-to-back bunt singles and Alex Coulter reached when his bunt was fielded and thrown late to third. Dockery then hit a hard grounder to third, but the ball was thrown away at home, allowing Bryan and Letzgus to score.
Two outs and three batters later, Josh Gibson hit a high fly to right-center field that was allowed to drop as a pair of Raiders outfielders looked at each other, allowing to more runs to score. Morris worked through a pair of hits in the bottom half to secure the sweep.
"Tripp bounced back and had a great outing tonight before running out of gas, and then Mo was ready and did a great job," Beagles said. "That's what you want to see out of a senior. He's somebody who has been with us from the start and battled back from an injury early in his career, and to see him do what he did tonight, I'm very proud of him and the entire team."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.